Introduction / Foreword I have run many meetings. Sadly, my first few meetings were complete and utter disasters. My team was sleep walking through them, and often the most critical plans were forgotten at the moment they walked out of the hall. In the hurry to get back to my room, and savor some of the fare on the Idiot Box, I would miss out on some of the most crucial opportunities to build rapport with my team. Somehow, it took me quite a while to accept that the meeting was more than me standing up and delivering a monologue in as passionate a pitch as I possibly could! This note is aimed at helping you reach that level of nirvana faster than I did. It is not meant to be prescriptive, it is pitched in the ‘Would you like to consider’ space. The MOC meeting is one of the most critical aspects of a sales manager’s job. Given that there is only one window you get in the MOC, where you have the captive attention of your entire team, it makes great sense to plan it down to every minute. It is also, the only time in the cycle that the entire team gets together. They meet, exchange stories, check-in on each other’s lives. They tell stories; they like to have some fun. The new additions to the team are quizzed, maybe ragged a bit too. In the next few pages, I will make an attempt to share with you my experiences of having run many such meetings, the blunders I made, and the wisdom I gained. For, over time I have come to have sat in on many meetings and been able to tell why some worked and some did not. A lot of us run good meetings, but some of us run meetings that are 100X better than other meetings! I have had the joy of sitting in on some of those meetings too… I hope you find this note interesting, and above all stimulating. If each of you who read this note sign on to what I call the CANI! Philosophy (Pronounced Can – I?), your teams will discover the power of great MOC meetings and it will begin to show in your quality of execution. Cheers and Happy Meeting…

Preparation What you carry with you to the meeting is vital. You can’t have a situation where you need something in the meeting and you don’t have it. The essential data that you need in your meeting should be the following:

1. Sales growth data – By RS / TSI / Geography 2. Share data – By State / Channel Type 3. FCS 4. ECO and Coverage Data 5. Infrastructure Database updated for last MOC 6. Key Activities Review by Territory vs. Action Standard 7. Strategic Activities Review by Territory vs. Action Standard 8. Work Plans of all your team members 9. AVI Scores 10. Channel Growth data 11. Pop-Strata Growth data 12. Growth Plan Sheets for Next MOC – All the targets for your team 13. Returns Checklist (Owned by the Steno) 14. Branch Requirements (Surveys / Formats / Letters etc.) 15. MOC Presentation

Now this is second nature to all of us. What often makes the difference is the MOC Presentation. That was the one element in all the great meetings that I have attended. The Presentation incorporated a theme, was exciting, inspired a vision and that was translated into actions in the course of the day. Putting your meeting’s agenda into a presentation ensures that you think ahead of the meeting. That you cover everything in the meeting and that you have a documented record of everything you discussed in the meeting. It also helps to keep the team engrossed and not get lost in the agenda of the day. It is an excellent practice to have all the targets for all the key packs of the MOC mailed to your team before the meeting itself. That allows them time to soak up the task ahead and come prepared to the meeting. In a survey, a team rated a particular sales manager as the worst they had ever worked with. Upon being queried further the reason they gave was the following: “Our meetings would go on till 12:00 in the night, and even then we would not be clear on how we were going to do the numbers”. A hallmark of a good meeting is that it accomplishes all it set out to do, and that it ends on time.

The Meeting

‘A task well begun is a task half done’! – Anonymous Start on time. Get your team used to a routine. Don’t keep the team waiting for a straggler. Put the agenda for the day up on the screen at the start of the meeting. That gives the team a road map for the day. They will arrange their data, their files etc. around the direction that you give them. The day’s agenda could look like this:

Time Module Description

9:00 –

9:15

Safety Discussion & Agenda

The day starts with a safety discussion. The theme / story are revealed and the day’s main objectives are discussed.

9:15 –

10:15

Growth Review of Previous MOC

All KPIs are reviewed for the just completed cycle – Growth / QOC / FCS / Eco / Depth / Infrastructure. This is a whole team review, where those who did not deliver are taken to task. Spend time on the growth agenda.

10:15 –

11:00 Prize Distribution

A small quick celebration of the achievements in the just completed MOC. Small tokens of acknowledgement such as books / rolling trophy may be presented.

11:00 –

11:15 Tea break

11:15 –

1:15

Discussion of Growth Plans for next MOC

A detailed discussion of all the key plans and OPS for the next MOC. This is concluded with a chart that summarizes the MUST DO activities with targets and the necessary granularity. It is focused on growth opportunities in the area.

1:15 –

1:45 Lunch

1:45 –

2:00 Post Lunch Energizer

A small game to get the energy pumping after a heavy meal! Any training game may be used for this. The team leader should moderate, and use some team behavior to make the case for some course correction.

2:00 –

3:00 Infrastructure Review

A detailed review of coverage and the compliance of current infrastructure to the EDGE norms by RS. To be done territory wise with the help of the Cluster TSO.

3:00 –

4:00 RSSM Review

A detailed review of the % RSSM achieving their FCS along with a clear action plan to remove bottom boxers. To be done territory wise with the help of the CE

4:00 –

4:15 Tea Break

4:15 –

4:45

DAP Review / Development Session

The Leader makes a presentation on an area where his team can improve. He might also focus on a particular competency / skill where his team is the weakest. He may also ask 6 members of his team to give a 5 minute talk on their progress on their DAPs

4:45 –

5:00 Tour Planning

The leader asks his team if there is any burning issue that they need his intervention on. He thus is able to travel by objective and demonstrate visible leadership to his team.

5:00 –

5:15 Team Celebration

The R&R program prizes are give out. The leader talks about people who he would like to recognize. A cake is cut for the people who celebrated their birthdays / anniversaries.

5:15 –

5:30 Issue Resolution

Claims that have been rejected / need clarification are returned to the TSO. These are then either corrected or rejected. Disputes between TSO secondary and the BIW report are resolved and closed.

5:30 –

6:30 The Send Off

The most critical hour of the day! The key tasks (no more than 5) are hammered through again. The growth story is completed. The leader rallies the team to the task of the cycle and everyone leaves the meeting on a high.

6:30 –

8:30 Movie / Team Games

The leader may screen a movie that has motivational cues / competency linkages etc. He may also play some team games that build team morale. This time may also be used to have a team get-together over drinks and snacks.

8:30 –

9:30 Dinner

The Growth Review The MOC is over. Some folk would have grown, others would have declined. Some folk would have done their QOC and some would have come up short. The most effective review if one that leaves both sets of people itching to deliver in the next MOC. This is easier said than done. But this simple principle might help. Review long enough to make it linger, short enough to ensure it does not fester. This works well if you are firm and fair. The last thing you need is for your team to believe you have favorites who get way with murder. As long as you are consistent, your team after a point is able to anticipate your response to some of the usual requests that come in on revision of targets / base corrections and the like. Be particularly harsh on individuals where a pathetic lack of focus or effort is evident: A TSO who has not grown 2 MOCs in a row. Or a TSO who delivers 15% ECO on a new launch pack, or then someone who has had the same 6 bottom boxers in FCS for the last 3 cycles. The review has been successful if the team is clear on the process of review, and the parameters. Your review critically influences the performance culture of the team. It might seem trivial, but in the final analysis your team warms up to your style of leadership. On a random visit to a RS point, an ASCM entered the office while the TSO was briefing the RSSM team. The TSI was saying – ‘If you got to 99% of your target, the stretch to 100% was nothing given your experience! 99% is not good enough on this team’. Those were the same words that the ASCM had uttered at the MOC meeting only a few days ago. In a feedback session, one AE wrote on his ASCM; ‘On more than one occasion you have completely wrecked my self esteem’. Another TSO wrote, ‘Your constant use of foul language and the threat of sacking are extremely frustrating for me’. Obviously the leader was missing a trick or two. So choose your words carefully, for you are often quoted, and your behavior is mirrored by every other member of the team.

The Discussion of Plans You are the boss. Don’t forget that for a moment! You are running the meeting, and you are responsible to keep the discussion focused on growth, delivery and execution. Your job is to get the weakest link in your team to pace with the sharpest one. There really is only one way to do this if you want to get it right 100% every time. Do it yourself! The best leaders carry all their targets to their meetings. The whole blue print to deliver the MOC and growth has been conceived in their minds. They then break them into simple actionable tasks that everyone in the team can understand and execute. In doing so, they also make the task appear easier than it actually is! This also saves valuable time and ensures that time is not wasted debating targets and bases. These discussions are non-productive and there is always negative energy created in the team when such dirty linen is washed in public. Your planning of the growth and deltas is what the team looks forward to. If you are able to display the clarity of thought and get them to focus their energy on the main deliverables they will respect you. A simple 5 minute exercise will reveal the kind of clarity you leave your team with at the end of the meeting. Ask your team to write down the top 5 activities of the MOC on a scrap of paper and collect it as they leave the hall. If they put down the same ones you had in mind, you have done a great job. One leader had this amazing clarity that he managed to cascade to his team. A visiting brand manager was shocked to see ECO of a new launch in the first TDP at 70% in the metro! On asking how this had been achieved, the TSO said, ‘It’s one of the 5 things that are 100% under my control, and if I do not do, I don’t have the courage to go to my MOC meeting’. The difference between a good team and an average one is easiest told through performances in the launch of a new pack. Clearly, this sales manager was leading a top performing team. Such clarity simplifies life at the front line, and actually liberates the field. It makes their job less frustration because their energies are focused and they are determined to make a difference.

The Rest of the Day When your meeting finishes, your meeting begins. That’s so true. At the close of the meeting take a close look at the body language of your team. At once you will notice a couple of people whose shoulders have already begun to drop! And this is moments after your motivational spiel on ambitious growth and chest thumping to bring the meeting to a rousing close. The great leaders sense this, like a hawk sights it prey from way up in the sky. They seek these people out and have that corridor chat with them. They ask them what the problem is. They get them talking. They LISTEN. One of the area’s star TSOs was looking rather upset at the end of a meeting despite having won an award in the meeting. The ASCM sensed the angst and called him aside to inquire what the problem was. It turned out that he was upset because the ASCM had not taken his hints that they should visit his house to see his new born baby (which was close to the beat they were working) and then not visited in the evening, but just spent the evening in his hotel room! Very often, the hardest part is to get real feedback from your team. The in-betweens in the meeting are probably the best place for you to get the informal pulse of the team. Make the meeting count for you to get some one on one time with each of the guys. Even if it is just for that fleeting 30 seconds where you ask how his last MOC was and give him a pat on the back. Each member of your team is motivated / energized in a different manner. The faster you realize and accept that, the better leader you will be. Good sales managers are able to be consistent, firm and get a majority of their teams up and running at full steam. The really great sales managers are the ones that have every single person on their team at a 100%! And they do this by customizing their leadership style to each person on the team. They win their teams over one person at a time. Over a drink a BLT asked his trainer how many ASCMs he had worked under. Having been in the company for over 25 years he had seen many managers. ‘18’ - was the reply. The BLT was under instructions to ask at least 100 questions every day, so he was keen to get another two done for the day. ‘So who did you like working for and why?’

“Mr. X was the best there ever was. He would always be there for anyone in trouble. His team was like his family. There was this time when some local goons had threatened his TSI. He was down overnight and personally traveled with his TSI’s family to get them to safety” “Mr. Y was also wonderful with my family. I still remember the day when he visited my market after the birth of my first child. He had carried a set of silver bangles for my daughter all the way from Mumbai” There was a TSO who had the misfortune of being the parcel in one of these passing the parcel games that often play out in branches. How often have you heard a colleague walk over to you and say ‘He is great TSO, you must take him!’ After 4 sales areas in less than 18 months he was at his tether’s end. He had his resignation written out as he reported to his 4th boss in less than a year. Sitting in the meeting he began to feel a little weird. There was lots of applause, there was a movie in the evening and no one was asked for copious paperwork. So he didn’t turn in his resignation. As he articulated it later – ‘The meeting was so strange and different, that he decided to stick around to see some more tamasha!’ You can image the lump in the ASCM’s throat when at his farewell; the guy in question came and gave him the resignation letter dated for that day with a short note at the bottom that read – “Boss, one meeting of yours saved my career. Thanks” Win each of your team members over, one at a time. Show them you care, that you will walk that extra mile with them, side by side, as equals. Be there in the trenches scrapping for that share from competition. Celebrate that 20% growth MOC with great gusto. It is often these small things that make a world of difference. There are opportunities to add to our team’s momentum all around us, in every break of the meeting, in every interaction. As leaders of our teams we need to make everyone of them count. And there is no better time than at the MOC meeting. Pour your heart into the meeting and your MOC will be a cake walk. For as one wise sales manager once said; “If you master the art of the MOC meeting, you can be on leave for the rest of the cycle and your team will not even notice!”

_The End_

MOC Meeting Themes These are some suggestions for MOC meeting themes. Some are dated, but they are more to inspire than to be used as is! The idea of a theme is to make it more than just a MOC meeting, to show the team a bigger picture or a story from which they can learn a trick or two. It also makes it interesting and it broadens their horizons.

By creating a theme you have a lever in their minds and the team over a period of time starts to relate to all historical meetings by the theme. It also makes your meeting an event that they look forward to and anticipate a new theme every time! It obviously means more effort on your part, but the stickiness makes it well worth the effort. In some branches ASCMs take it in turn develop complete theme packages that are then shared across the branch to ensure that those short on time have access to a theme too! A wonderful example of sharing so that everyone is better off!